OREANDA-NEWS. Integrated testing of a continuous casting machine for semi-finished products made by the German company SMS Demag AG has begun at Seversky Tube Works (STW), affiliated to TMK.

According to the press service of TMK, the production capacity of the continuous casting machine amounts to 950,000 tonnes of semi-finished products per year. Using modern continuous steel casting technology, Seversky Tube Works will produce high-quality round semi-finished products for manufacturing pipes, which will also be delivered for Sinarsky Pipe Works, affiliated to TMK.

The new machine is unique and will enable the Company to raise the ecological safety level of production and lower the amount of metal, energy and labour expenditure, which will provide additional competitive advantages for TMK’s pipe production.

The commissioning of the continuous casting machine at STW is one of the key stages in the modernization of the enterprise’s steelmaking production. In 2002 STW modernized its system of scrap recycling and also commissioned the installation of a ladle furnace, built jointly with the company SMS Demag AG. In 2004 works were begun at the open-hearth plant on the construction of the continuous casting machine. The commissioning of an electric furnace at the enterprise is planned at the end of 2007.